Sure, I’ve heard the hits, and I was married for years to a big Hall & Oates fan. I also like Hall’s work on Robert Fripp’s album Exposure. But this album was a revelation. Cleverly crafted pop songs with gorgeous production values. You’ll know at least one song — the hit “She’s Gone.” This record is the perfect music for a summer afternoon in 1973, the year both it and I were released. And it sounds pretty darned good now, too.

This band features three-fourths of the band Circle (the missing member is Anthony Braxton). Right out of the gate, the trio is forceful and free-flying in their take on Wayne Shorter’s “Nefertiti.” And then on the next track, it’s “gaze into one’s soul” time on Corea’s “Ballad For Tillie.” A fun outing by three supremely talented players.

I can’t pretend to an extensive knowledge of classical music in general or Brahms in particular. All I can say is that this is wonderfully soft and lush and gorgeous and rich. I’ve played it two days in a row at the store and people keep coming over to ask about it.

I mean COME ON, this record has “Chain Of Fools,” “Since You’ve Been Gone,” and the absolutely deadly “Ain’t No Way,” which my friend bassist John Kennedy describes as “baby-makin’ music.” The band alone is worth the price of admission — Spooner Oldham, Jimmy Johnson, Bobby Womack, Joe Newman, King Curtis, Frank Wess, and many more.

This one took me by surprise. I mean, nobody spins a Lou Reed record expecting happy pop music, but that’s what a lot of the songs are on New Sensations. They’re not vapid or simplistic, but they have backbeats and major chords and happy guitar solos. Lyrically, Reed is still willing to pull off some scabs, but even when he’s telling it like it is, there’s a knowing smile in his voice.